Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-24
CHAPTER NII.-CoNrINUEp.


ton I SAW, zoo, that their eyes passed by
me, seeing nothing to charm them in the per
son Of an Insignificant and grizzled old mar.
Then they looked with evident astonishment
sa the grim form Of old Umslopogaas. who
raised his Ak in salutation. Attracted next
by the splendor of Goods apparel, for q sec
ond their glance rested on him. like a hum
ming moth upon a flower, then Off It darted
70 where Sir Henry Curtis stood, the sunlight
from Q window playing upon his yellow hair
and peaked heard. and marking out the out
lines Of his massive frame against the twilight
of the somewhat gloomy hall He raised bis
eyes and they met the fair Nylepthas full,
and thus for the first time the goodliest man
and woman that it has ever been my lot to
ese looked one upon the other. And why 1t
Was I know not. but l saw the swift blood
run up beneath Nylepths's skin as the pink
lights run up the morning sky. Red grew
her fair bosom and shapely arm, red the swan
like neck; the rounded cheeks bushed red as
the petals OF q rose. and then the crimson
Good sank back to whence it came, and left
Asr pale and trembling.
IRlanced at Sir Henry. he, too, had col
ored up to the eyes.
"On nv ~ori!7 thought to myself. 'the
ladies have come on the stage. and now we
may look TO the plot to develop itself" And
! sighed and shook my head, knowing that
the beauty Of woman is like the beauty Of
the lightniug-a destructive thing and "A cause
Of desolation By the time that had finished
INV reflections both tine queens were on the
thrones, for ell this had happened in about
nix seconds Once more the unseen trumpets
blared out, and then the court seated itself
and Queen Sorais motioned to Us to do like
wise.
Next from among the crowd, whittier he
bad withdrawn. stepped forward our guide,
the old gentleman who had towed us ashore.
holding by the hand the girl whom We had
hrst seen and afterwards rescued from the
hippopotamus. Having made obeisance, he
proceeded to address the queens, evidently
describing to them the way and place where
We had been found. 1t was most amusing to
watch the astonishment not unuixed with
fear, reflected upon their faces as they listened
70 his tale Clearly they could not under
stand how We had reached the lake, and been
found floating on it, and were inclined TO
attribute our presence to supernatural causes
Then the narrative proceeded, as / judged
from the frequent appeals that our guide
made to the girl, TO the point where we had
shot the hippopotsmi, and We at once per
ceived that there was something very wrong
about those hippopotsmi, for the history was
frequently interrupted 10y indignant ex
CARNATIONS from the little group of white
robed priests. and even from the courtiers
while the two queens listened with an amazed
expression. especially when our guide pointed
to the rifles in our hands as being the means
Of destruction. And here. to make matters
clear. l may as we'll explain at once that the
inhabitants Of Zu-Nendis are sun worshipers
and that for some reason or other the hippo
potamus is a sacred animal among them. MOI
that they do not kill it, because at a certain
season Of the year they slaughter thousands-
which are specially preserved in large lake
III, the country-ani uSt their hides for armoI
for soldiers: but this does not prevent then.
frm considering these animals sacred tc
the sun Now, A. i'll luck would have il. th,
la-tIcular hippopotsmi We had shot were l.
family or tame animals that were kept at the
mouth Of the port, and daily fed by priests
whose special duty 1t was TO attend to them.
When We shot them thought that the brutes
were suspiciously tame, and this was, We
afterwards ascertainei, the cause of it. Thus
il came about that in attempting TO show Off
We had committed sacrilese of most agra
waited nature.
When our guide had finished his tale, the
old man with the long beard and round cap.
whose appearance have already described.
and who was rs have said, the high priest of
the country. and known by the name of Agon,
rose and commenced an impassioned ha-
rangue l did not like the look of his cold
gray eve as he fixed il on us. l should have
liked it still less had l known that in the
name Of the outraged ma jesty of his god he
was demanding that the whole lot of Us should
be offered up Is \ sacrifice by means Of being
burnt alive
After he had finished speaking the Queen
Sorais addressed him in a soft and musical
voice, and appeared, to judge from his ges-
tures OF dissent. 10 be putting the other side
Of the question before him. Then Nyleptha
spoke in liquid accents Little did We know
that she was pleading for our lives. Finally.
she turned and addressed tall, soldier like
man Of middle age with a black beard and a
long, plain sword, whose name, as We after
wards learned, was Nasta. and who was the
greatest lord in the country, apparently ap'
pealing to him for support. Now when Sir
Henry had caught her eye and she had blushej
% rosy red, had seen that the incident had
not escaped this mans notice and what is
more, that it was eminent!y disagreeable to
him, for be bit his lip and his hand tightened
on his sword hilt. Afterwards we learned
that he was an aspirant for the band Of this
queen In marriage, which accounted for il
This being 80, Nyleptha could not have
appealed TO . worse person, for speak
ing in slow, heavy tones. he appeared TO con-
drm all that the High Priest Agon said. As
hs spoke, Sorais put her elbow on her knee,
and resting her chin on her hand, looked at
him with suppressed smile upon her lips. as
though she saw through tine man, and WAS de
termned to be his match: hut Nyleptha grew
very angry. Her CHEEK flushed, her eyes
flashed, and she did indeed look lovely. Finally
she turned TO ASon and seemed to give some
sort Of qualified assent, for he bowed at her
words; and as she spoke she moved her hands
- though to emphasize her words; while all
the time Sorais kept her chin on her hand
and smiled Then suddenly Nyleptha made
. sign and the trumpets blew again. and
everybody rose to leave the hall save our
selves and the guards, whom she motioned to
stay.
When they were all gone she bent forward
and, smiling sweetly, partially BY signs and
partly by exc amations, made II clear to US
that she was very anxious to know where we
came from The difficulty was how TO ex-
plain. but at last an idea struck me had
my large pocket book in my pocket and a
pencil Taking it out, l made a little sketch
Of . lake, and then as best l could, drew the
underground river and the lake at the other
snd. When had done this l advanced to
the steps Of the throne AMI gave it to her.
She understood it at once and clapped her
hands with delight. and then descending
from the throne took il to her sister Sorais,
who also evidently understood. Next she
took the pencil from me, and after examining
It with curiosity, proceeded to make q series
Of delightful little sketches, the first repre-
ssnting herself holding out both hands in
welcome, and q man uncommonly like Sir